


Gift for the Family

by SiZodiac



Series: Charlotte Name AUs [2]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dysfunctional Family, Family Drama, Family Dynamics, Field Trip, Gen, Meet the Family, Not Canon Compliant, Tea Parties
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-16
Updated: 2019-07-26
Packaged: 2020-06-29 13:22:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19831096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SiZodiac/pseuds/SiZodiac
Summary: AU. What were the chances that Charlotte family might have lost a daughter years in the past? When a woman bearing resemblance was rescued onboard their ship on the way to Wano, Charlotte siblings had to together decide how much risk was worth to accept a potential enemy as one of their own.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is a gift to _Hana_ and _EleVen_ for their encouragement.

They did not expect the ever docile Naitamie-Norida elephant Zunisha to attack them, it was a dire miscalculation.

Ginrummy clung onto a drifting plank, cursing her foolish captain under her breath for never thinking things through. She cursed her stupid bloodthirsty crew with permanent smiles fixed on their faces, who couldn’t complete their task properly and now they were all dead. The artificial SMILE fruit power flowing in her veins meant every second submerged in seawater as she held on to this plank was a struggle to stay afloat, with volatile ocean waves throwing her around.

She really didn’t want to die.

.

A light drizzle of acidic rain started to fall late in the night, the corrosive property capable of eating through sailcloth and wood, because New World weather enjoyed fucking over unsuspecting seafarers with endearing unpredictability.

Big Mom Pirates flagship _Queen Mama Chanter_ had the necessary equipment to deal with that though. Charlotte Raisin as night-watch sitting on top of the cupcake crow's nest, didn’t even bother to bat an eye when the homie ship secreted a layer of high quality beeswax to coat itself in a protective edible biofilm. “Regen Anstrich, Indaco,” Raisin whispered softly, drawing his sword in the left hand to channel armament haki into a purplish shield, to shelter himself from the rain.

A faint voice shouted weakly from the sea.

The homie ship immediately directed its spotlight to starboard, and Raisin leaped down onto the gunwale to check it out.

Big Mom Pirates ship doctor Charlotte Tablet was reading a thick volume textbook, enjoying the quiet serenity of nighttime medical bay, when he heard the patter of urgent footsteps echoing down the corridors. Tablet gulped down the last mouthful of sweetened cappuccino and shut the book, recalling who was on guard duty tonight. They should still be some days away from Wano Country.

Raisin showed up at the infirmary drenched from head to toe, long hair plastered all over and suit soaked through, as if he had just been dunked into the sea. It had to be the most undignified Tablet had ever seen that young man in, and there was an unconscious woman in his arms. Scantily garbed in carmine breastplate, curly fuchsia hair, gloves and feathered coat. Tablet’s heart skipped a beat as the first thought flashing through his mind was _Galette had drowned_ , but no, that woman was gauged to be around average human height and half meter too short to be his sister.

“Thank god you are awake, Brother Tablet,” Raisin gasped, putting the woman onto a cot. “I didn’t know the rumor that you never sleep is true.”

Tablet shook his head and gestured for his little brother to move that woman onto the floorboards instead, since cardiopulmonary resuscitation should be performed on a hard surface. Tablet checked her breathing and pulse, finding none, then proceeded to tilt her head back and pinch her nose to deliver rescue breaths. Raisin went into position, so he could start chest compressions at his older brother’s command.

It was a stressful ten minutes, before life returned to that near-drowning victim after she coughed up the excessive water from her lungs and vomited the rest from her stomach. There was a short lucid interval when the woman woke, but soon fell unconscious again due to extreme exhaustion.

Now that crisis was averted, Tablet turned to his little brother. “What happened? Who is she?”

Raisin had took off his shirt and was drying his hair with a towel. “I was on deck patrol when I saw her in the sea. The lighting was poor and I thought Sister Galette had gone overboard, so I acted on impulse,” Raisin replied sheepishly. “I don’t know who she is.”

Tablet retrieved a length of chains from the cabinet, and cuffed the mysterious woman by her left ankle to the steel framework of the rice cake bed.

“Get Brother Perospero and Sister Compote here, before you return to your lookout duty,” Tablet told his little brother. “Oh, and don’t tell Mama just yet.”

Raisin nodded, hurrying away. He needed to clean himself up before anybody else witnessed him in such state of disarray. It was fortunate this debacle happened in the night when most subordinate crew members were asleep, because Mama made him an absolute slave to PR just like his sisters Panna and Pudding, and he didn’t have the convenient ability to scrub people’s brain.

.

Perospero instantly roused to wakefulness when he perceived disturbance outside the hull. He was on alert at once, with candy syrup flowing down his amputated shoulder to solidify into a substitute arm. His little brother Raisin was balancing himself precariously atop the icing glazed windowsill, gently tapping the transparent candy panel.

“Perospero?” Compote said groggily from the next bed, sitting up as she rubbed her eyes. “What’s going on?”

“I would like to know myself, peroin~” Perospero muttered, flabbergasted, as he quickly went over to slide open the window. “What are you doing outside in the storm, Raisin? Where’s your shirt?”

“Long story,” Raisin grumbled. “I was dodging a longarm crewman because I didn’t want to be seen underdressed... that’s not the point, Brother Tablet wants me to inform you there is a suspicious individual held captive at the medical bay. Mama doesn’t know yet.”

Compote was already changing out of her silk negligee, and she threw a cotton overcoat at Perospero. Her brother caught it with practiced reflex. “We’ll be right over, dear,” Compote said.

Raisin nodded, skipping into the air and vanished from sight, presumably to return to his own resting quarters. Perospero yawned, pulling the loose coat over his nightgown. “Why would anyone be out alone in the sea in the middle of the night.”

“Well, we’ve seen weirder,” Compote replied, using an orange headband adorned with apricots and kumquats to secure her bushy cyan hair, not bothering with her usual full parfait getup. “Let’s go, Peros,” Compote said, holding open the door. They headed towards the infirmary together.

Tablet was expecting them, looking as sleep-deprived as he had always been. “Brother Peros, Sister Compote,” Tablet said, ushering the fraternal siblings into his workstation. “Raisin pulled a girl out of the sea half an hour ago. I’m thinking of moving her to the prison brig, once her condition stabled.”

Tablet provided an abbreviated rundown of the situation to his older brother, while Compote went on ahead to check the reported woman captive in the ward. Perospero was discussing the details with his little brother, when Compote suddenly let out an audible gasp of alarm, distinctively loud in the quiet medical bay. Perospero and Tablet rushed inside, wary of an unexpected enemy attack.

Compote stopped them by the doorstep, hands reaching out to grasp weakly at her older twin’s shoulder. “Peros. You won’t believe this,” Compote said. Her voice was quivering, with an odd quality of equal parts trepidation and boundless wonder. “Gin. Gin is alive.”

“What?” Perospero uttered, not expecting to hear that name at all, a child lost thirty years ago. Tablet was nonplussed, he was thirty-six and too young at the time to know of that incident.

Perospero went around his corpulent sister, needing to see for himself, when a length of fleshy whip-like appendage lashed out stretching from across the room to thrash at his face. Perospero reacted quick by configuring his candy cane, vigilant even when guard was down, to deflect that inept sneak attack. Their visitor was awake and apparently capable of mid-range offense while chained. Perospero pointed his left index finger to direct adhesive hard candy to bind that woman’s bizarrely elongated left limb, writhing like a finned snake, to instantly subdue their conceivable adversary.

“No, Peros! Don’t attack her!” Compote cried out in dismay, slapping away her brother’s raised staff.

Ginrummy wasn’t giving up after one failed attempt though, after she identified herself onboard the ship of a rivaling crew, because it was just her damned luck. Ginrummy struck next by thrusting her right arm forward, fingers fusing together to morph into the biting jaw of a serpentine knifefish with the gift of SMILE fruit curse. Compote stepped in between that woman and her brother, holding up a forearm to block the attack. Ginrummy chomped down with her right hand head, tiny teeth digging into flesh, but couldn’t bite through the Charlotte daughter’s tough iron skin.

Ginrummy growled, but she still had one secret weapon left. She would not go down without taking at least one enemy with her, so she dialed up to peak voltage. “ELECTRICUS CHARGE, MAXIMUM!!” Ginrummy shouted, unleashing the full might of her electric eel SMILE. There was a reverberated echo akin to the rumbling thunderclap.

Perospero squinted, he wasn’t anticipating that young woman to pack such destructive capability. Tablet shielded his eyes from the blinding light.

Compote’s dress was charred...

... and Ginrummy’s mouth fell open, when she realized that older woman was barely singed by her strongest technique, despite the notable scorched area surrounding her.

The teleost fish squeaked pitifully.

Perospero waved his hand, to remotely open the candy-paneled windows with his devil fruit ability, the astringent rainstorm had subsided during their indoor exchange thankfully, so he could air out the scent of burnt marshmallows. Compote possessed the highest durability among all Charlotte siblings, so he wasn’t too worried. A couple homie bagel stools escaped out into the hallway in fright.

Ginrummy on the other hand was only hoping for a quick merciful death at this point, as a lowly Beast Pirates headliner trapped among Big Mom Pirates executives. This was just unfair, that she had to keep running into foes she couldn’t defeat.

Compote noticed the despondent expression on that young woman’s face. “Oh, Gin. It’s okay, hon. I’m not mad,” Compote soothed sympathetically, walking over to hug her close. Perospero frowned, still cautious, but said nothing.

Ginrummy was scared, petrified stiff in another woman’s embrace, and very very confused.

.

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ginrummy shares a lot of visual similarities with Galette and Poire, and has a name that work both as a card game and types of food. Just saying, if Big Mom ever had any child gone missing over the years, I wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out to be her.
> 
> PSA: When performing CPR cycles, chest compressions generally go before rescue breaths. However, the sequence is _reversed_ for near-drowning victims, so know that Tablet did the correct procedure under the circumstance.


	2. Chapter 2

In the wee hours of the morning, Ginrummy was forcefully escorted to the ship galley by Charlotte Perospero, because her stomach growled due to having nothing to eat the past few days drifting on the sea. Perospero did not trust her and was very reluctant to let her out of his sight, while his twin sister Compote had left earlier to get a change of clothes. The chef in Perospero could not ignore the suffering of an empty stomach however, so some arrangement had to be made. Ginrummy was thus taken to the kitchen and chained to a chair carved out of huge walnut shell, facing the long table made of baguette slice.

Ginrummy understood the only reason she wasn’t dead yet, was due to not being recognized as a member of the Beast Pirates. She needed to play safe, feign innocence, and find a way to escape from this ludicrous situation.

Things got even more surreal, when food literally danced themselves onto the plates placed in front of her.  
  
Ginrummy stared, mouth gaping open. Beast Pirates had their headquarters in the Land of Wano, where palatable food was scarce and reserved for nobility and the rich, but now there was a large assortment of colorful breakfast dish she couldn’t name singing before her with enough quantity to feed a goddamn country. “Umm,” Ginrummy said numbly, famished, but feeling queasy at the thought of consuming sentient cakes.  
  
“Nothing is poisoned,” Perospero said, sitting down on an elegantly sculptured candy armchair. He picked up a cup of hot black tea, scowled, then switched the teacup into his left hand. “You want something to drink? Tea, milk, coffee, juice?”  
  
Ginrummy stared harder. “Are you pirates or not? Where is the booze?”  
  
Perospero clucked his tongue and gestured with his prosthesis. “You are certainly demanding enough to be my younger sibling, perorin~” he muttered.  
  
A pitcher of bright red fruit punch sat itself next to the woman, made of pomegranate and watermelon, minimal alcohol, with cherry and mint decoration. Ginrummy felt absurdly insulted, being served like a child, but knew it was not wise to challenge the man further. She gingerly picked up a fork and took a small bite out of the lemon flavored bread.

Compote came back to join them half an hour later below deck, now with her parfait headwear in place. She brought with her the morning newspaper and two much younger women bearing strikingly similar appearance as Ginrummy herself, albeit taller, with fuchsia hair and furred attire.  
  
“So, you’re Gin?” Galette asked, crossing her arms.

“Ginrummy,” Ginrummy corrected. “Who’s asking?”

“I’m Charlotte Galette, and this is my twin sister Poire,” Galette introduced, taking a seat opposite to their duplicitous guest. Poire’s fanged grin made Ginrummy somewhat uneasy, so she averted her gaze, knowing these people were all enemy lieutenants and not to be underestimated.

“How old are you?” Galette asked.

Ginrummy was baffled by that line of nonsensical interrogation, but willed herself to remain calm. She had to tread carefully, to not reveal anything that could compromise her true identity. “It is impolite to callously ask a woman’s age.”

“Answer the question.”

“Thirty, why?”

Galette pursed her lips, suddenly irritated. She stood up, both hands slamming down on the bread table. “Gin is dead,” Galette hissed. “You are not her. You can’t be.”

“Galette, compose yourself,” Poire said, her wide grin downturned. She put her hands gently over her sister’s shoulders, to placate her anger.

Galette glared over her twin to growl at the woman pretending to be their dead little sister. “I will not trust you, snake,” Galette snarled. She stuffed a calisson into her mouth and grabbed the plate piled full of profiterole cream puffs from the table, before stomping out the galley.  
  
Compote sighed. “Give her some time.”  
  
Ginrummy nodded uncertainly.  
  
Charlotte Poire on the other hand was comparably more welcoming. She took the seat her twin had vacated and ate a calisson as well, then offered the bowl of that fruit paste candy to their captured guest. “So, what brought you to this ocean?”  
  
Ginrummy blinked. Was this some sort of ‘good marine, bad marine’ routine?

“My ship sank in the storm,” Ginrummy replied, purposefully keeping her response straightforward and simple, without any condemning details.  
  
Poire tilted her head. “You are obviously a pirate yourself. Care to tell us from which crew?”

Ginrummy was prepared for this. “What does it matter, they are all dead.”

Poire somehow found that admission amusing, her eerily cheerful laughter made Ginrummy immensely uncomfortable. “True. If that is the case, then why don’t you join us?” Poire said sweetly. “I heard you have an interesting ability, and are quite a capable fighter. You won’t ever go hungry staying with us.”

Ginrummy knew what this was. Prominent crews in the New World were always squabbling over land resources and manpower, Master Kaido himself had an efficient system setup for potential recruits in a Wano prisoner camp, but it seemed the Big Mom Pirates took on a more carrot-and-stick principle. Ginrummy would not fall for the honey bait.

“Not like I have a choice,” Ginrummy said instead, the steel manacle secured around her ankle clinked. She put the fork down, having finished her fill.

“You will have your freedom, in due time,” Poire said, cupping her chin. “You should eat some more though, dear sister, because we are taking you to see Mama at morning tea tomorrow and we’re not allowed to eat anything from the table when Mama is present,” Poire was still smiling. “It would be bad, you see, if any of us accidentally took something Mama wanted.”

Ginrummy swallowed. “B-Big Mom... is here?”

“No need to be afraid. You’re family.”

Ginrummy didn’t know how to reply to that, so she occupied herself fiddling with silverware, wondering if any cutlery could be used as weapon. Ginrummy noticed more flat cakes and seeded pudding were attempting to climb into her empty plate though, so she shooed them away. “I don’t need any more of that... whatever those are.”

“Lemon ricotta pancakes, blueberry chia pudding, and chocolate quinoa,” Poire named each dish. “Do you want something else? My specialty are alcoholic desserts. Margarita pie, mojito cupcake, bourbon peach milkshake et cetera.”

Ginrummy shook her head. She was feeling bloated now, having already ate enough to last a week.

Poire blinked slowly. “You eat so little.”

For some reason, Ginrummy had this weird sense that she had just failed an important test, but that was plain ridiculous. She forced herself to take another muffin.

Perospero looked over at the pair of girls, folding close the trash newspaper printed with nothing but Morgans’ bullshit. “The sun will rise soon and I need to get changed,” Perospero said, standing up, but frowned in mild disapproval at Ginrummy’s state of undress. He was still the older brother of perhaps forty younger sisters, and certain protective familial instinct would always persist. “Poire, get your sister something decent to wear. I am not keen on killing off lecherous pigs among our own crewmen so early in the morning.”

“Sure thing, Brother Peros~” Poire singsonged. She tugged Ginrummy by the chains to lead her outside of the cafeteria, strolling down the promenade deck while enjoying cool sea breeze and early morning mist. Ginrummy was getting annoyed being jerked all over like a rag doll though, and ankle shackles made it difficult to walk. She wondered where the hell was the key to her chains. They passed by that blond doctor in white uniform Ginrummy recognized along the outdoor path, he was riding a pink sheep and armed with a notable nodachi blade at his side.

“Hey, wait, there are some questions I want to ask about your strange devil fruit ability,” Tablet called after the girls.

“Later, Brother Tablet,” Poire called back. “I need to get Gin ready for Mama.”

Ginrummy rolled her eyes in scarcely concealed disdain, because of course that short man would be another Charlotte sibling. Big Mom was like an ant queen, giving birth to workers and generals, with her army of freaky children to do her bidding.

Poire and Ginrummy went up a flight of stairs and into another dimly-lit corridor, encountering a few crew members that did double takes at the Butter Minister lookalike, before finally arriving at their destination. It was a spacious room completed with personalized lounge area and a snack bar, dresser and mirrors, and a huge double bed designed for women of taller-than-average size.

“This is the quarter I share with Galette,” Poire said, dropping the chains. She crossed the room to fling open the gigantic wardrobe that took up an entire wall, heedless of the fact that she was inadvertently exposing her backside to a potential enemy. “You’ll be staying here with us, once you settled in.”

“... I thought you are officers?” Ginrummy asked. She discreetly picked up her shackles, carefully so the chains did not make any noise.

“Yes, we are. Why do you ask?” Poire replied. She dug through her opulent dresses to find something small enough for the shorter woman to wear, before deciding on a magenta sports bra and matching miniskirt. Gin could wear her breastplate over the outfit, if she wanted.

“I would expect officers to have their own rooms,” Ginrummy voiced. She wanted to keep the trivial conversation going, to not arouse suspicion, as she quietly approached that Charlotte daughter from her blind spot.

“We’re twins, Galette and I. We shared everything together growing up.”

“I see. Must be an interesting childhood, with so many siblings around,” Ginrummy said, pulling taut the length of chains. “I never knew my own family, growing up an orphan in West Blue.” Ginrummy was standing right behind Poire now, and she was going to strangle her current only warden, electrocute the woman if necessary, so she could make an attempt at escape. There should be many lifeboats stored at an internal docking system on a ship this size. The only chance for her to flee was during the obscuring fog of morning twilight, her window of opportunity narrow, before they took her to see the infamous Sea Emperor Big Mom.

Poire suddenly shut the wardrobe, abnormally loud. Ginrummy froze.

“I used to be a fairly short-tempered kid. Galette was the nicer one, out of the two of us,” Poire said. She did not turn around, instead went to another closet to search through a variety of loose tunics and feathered coats. Charlotte House were pirate royalty, with the material wealth to match their status. “I eventually trained myself out of it, but that was only after I have already killed someone by mistake. I was eight.”

Poire abruptly snapped around, startling Ginrummy into dropping her makeshift weapon. Her uncanny smile too bright and too insincere, sharp piranha fangs clicking menacingly with each word. “Family or no, we do not tolerate traitors. Be warned that if you are not _with us_ , I will personally put a bullet through your head.”

Ginrummy exhaled, heart hammering in her ribcage. She clenched her fists tight to stop herself from trembling, and accepted the garish clothes placed into her arms.

.

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poire’s backstory, please read **Family Album** Ch5.


	3. Chapter 3

There was a knock on the door.

A young girl showed up at the triplet-twin’s room. She was wearing a cornflower dress and white cape with the hood down, revealing her short sangria red hair in bob cut style underneath.

“Hello, Sister Poire,” the girl said, handing over a few pages of sheet music. “Brother Basskarte and Brother Mont-d’Or have rewritten the lyrics for our morning tea. It took a little longer than usual, with Brother Opera currently indisposed. You should have a look.”

“Thank you, Wafers,” Poire said.

“You’re welcome,” Wafers replied politely, then turned to Ginrummy. That mysterious pirate woman had just finished changing into new clothes after a much needed warm shower, and was regarding her with chary suspicion. “Have a nice day, Sister Gin.”

“Ginrummy,” Ginrummy corrected on reflex, drying her hair, though knowing it was futile. Nobody on the Big Mom Pirates would acknowledge her real name, for whatever reasons, while claiming her as part of their own.

Surprisingly enough, the girl nodded.

“Have a nice day, Sister Ginrummy,” Wafers said, pinning the woman with her disconcerting amethyst eyes, before leaving in a swirl of ruffled frilly dress. Ginrummy did not know why, but of all the many unnerving people she had encountered thus far on this ship, that little girl had somehow managed to top the list.

“... what a weird child.”

“She is Charlotte Wafers, thirty-seventh daughter of our family,” Poire introduced, finishing off an entire pile of glazed cookies. “Or thirty-eighth, including you. She is thirteen this year.”

Ginrummy watched the taller woman eat and felt nauseous, she seriously had too much food. “Isn’t that a bit young, to be doing... whatever it is you guys are doing?”

Poire shrugged, an air of nonchalance. “Wafers is special, so Mama brought her with us, just in case.”

Ginrummy scoffed. “What does that mean? I doubt a child can fight well enough to matter.”

Poire laughed at that. “Oh no. If anything, Wafers is the only one of us who cannot fight. She is a pacifist, you see, she won’t hurt a bug.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

The Charlotte daughter grinned. “You’ll understand soon enough,” Poire said. She double checked the sheet music, before tugging on Ginrummy’s chains again. “Now come on. We need to get ready, or we’ll be late.”

“For what...?” Ginrummy gasped, stumbling after her caretaker warden.

They took a shortcut outside. Ginrummy realized the great majority of the Big Mom crew had already gathered around the upper decks and lower decks, with perhaps half the animated chattel furniture on standby thrumming with anticipation. Poire hooked her chains onto a nearby bagel chair, and then gave Ginrummy a quick inane instruction before running off herself. “Wait here, Gin. Just remember your line. Daughter to meet you, Dear Mama.”

“What does that even mean?” Ginrummy shouted after her, but that woman had already disappeared into the crowds. A chess soldier shushed her with an impatient huff, drumming the floorboards to the rhythm of an nonexistent beat, and next came the sound of violins and cellos, soon accompanied by the soothing echo of flutes and bassoons and the entire orchestra. Ginrummy goggled in wide-eyed incredulity, experiencing the most absurd minutes of her life, when a row of cupcakes danced into a circle following the crescendo musical notes.

Then, everyone and everything started to sing.

.

_Cupcake, Cupcake, Cuuup-cake~!_

_We welcome a new day~!_

_The ship is singing so lovely and lovely  
The crew is dancing so lively and lively_

_We all welcome this neeew day~!_

Everybody clapped and cheered. Edible sugary confettis erupted into the air, colorful balloons and ribbons rearranging themselves into a chromatic arch over the largest entryway upon the elevated pudding quarterdeck, when the gigantic chestnut double doors flung open with a reverberating bang.

Their Queen, Charlotte ‘Big Mom’ Linlin stepped onto the stage, all extravagant glory and glee.

“Ha-haha-ha, Ma-mama-ma~” Charlotte Linlin sang joyously, spreading her arms wide as she danced down the foyer stairs. “Good morning, my sons and my daughters, how beautiful is this day~”

The fifteen Charlotte children on deck raised their hands and waved. “Good morning, Mama~ La-lala-la, La-lala-la~”

Ginrummy could practically feel her jaw dropping onto the ground, witnessing this display. A longarm crewman standing beside her was making a funny face and gesturing with discreet twitching fingers, trying to get that uncooperative new princess to wave along with her royal siblings. Ginrummy ignored the frantic cues coming her way.

Linlin tapped her heel to the symphony beat, ta-baba, ta-baba. “A visitor came to us in the night I heard, what is the stooory~”

The ship neon spotlight directed to the front mast, following the young Charlotte son that leaped down onto the forecastle cake. “A woman was pulled from the foaming sea, from sapphire tides to ruby ship~ In the rain, in the rain, in the rain~” Raisin intoned, swaying to the music. Galette and Poire backflipped onto the cake, landing elegantly to stand on their taller little brother’s left and right.

“A sister in need?” Galette sang.

“An enemy indeed?” Poire sang.

“We cannot say, Mama~” Raisin chorused in his pleasant baritone, with Galette and Poire chanting along. “La-lala-la, La-lala-la, La-lala-laaa~”

“So mysterious,” Linlin said, clapping her hands. “I am excited, tell me more!”

Perospero stepped forward from his mother’s left and Compote stepped forward from her mother’s right. They met in the middle before their captain and gracious queen, both holding out their hands, together the twins sang, “Such strange ability she possessed~ What is that, oh no thunder strike~ Lalala, Lalala~”

“A family, perorin~?” Perospero hummed.

“Or, an ad-versary~?” Compote chanted.

Perospero used his devil fruit ability to construct a school of elongated candy knifefish, in all colors of the rainbow, and brandished his staff like a music conductor. Compote raised her arms in a defensive pose, and collaborated with her twin to perform an energetic dance based on the night before. Cassata cakes and lollipops swirled in a happy circle around them, with brilliant candy sculptures swimming in the air reflecting the rays of sunshine. “Who is that, oh who is that~?”

Ginrummy was utterly flabbergasted.

“A sister in need?” Perospero sang.

“An enemy indeed?” Compote sang.

Perospero and Compote twirled around, facing their mother, then took a deep bow in complete synch. “We cannot say, Mama~” Charlotte twins chorused. “La-lala-la, La-lala-la, La-lala-laaa~”

Next moment, following the tempo flow, bright pink neon lights was redirected to focus on that young woman of the hour. Ginrummy squinted, wondering what the fuck was happening, when she abruptly realized to her utter despair that the spotlight was on herself. Steel chains jerked, that bagel armchair scooped up the bewildered Beast Pirate headliner and skipped down the center lane like a parade, to sit her in front of their honorable queen. Emperor Big Mom was staring directly at her now, orange eyes intense as pits of the abyss. Ginrummy was sweating buckets, feeling tiny and insignificant in comparison.

“Who are you, dear child?” Linlin asked.

Ginrummy’s mouth was parched as sand. What did that woman told her, to remember the lines, something about daughter and mother?

“Umm,” Ginrummy squeaked. “Hi, umm, mom?”

Galette on the forecastle deck rolled her eyes, Poire facepalmed.

Ginrummy trembled in her boots, peering up in frightened awe at Big Mom’s towering stature and wondered if she was going to die for something so stupid as forgetting her lines. She belonged under Master Jack’s fleet for fuck sake, not Master Queen, daily rehearsal for ridiculous impromptu musicals was not her job. If she managed to survive this by some outlandish miracle, she would never laugh at Solitaire ever again for her fleet captain’s hilarious tendency to spontaneously burst into songs. Damn, she missed that monkey SMILE headliner and her best friend, but she was currently trapped in this saccharine hell before their fucking devil queen.

Big Mom leaned down and narrowed her eyes, inspecting the strange girl closely. “You’re not too smart, are you?” Linlin noted, her tone casually condescending, then laughed in amusement to finish her song.

_Ha-haha-ha, Ma-mama-ma~_

_An odd one indeed  
A peculiar daughter in need_

_No matter._

_Let us start the morning tea party~!_

.

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally did it! After writing 100k for the Charlotte family, I finally did a musical~!


End file.
